Supreme Court slaps down $175 billion worth of Trump tariffs as unconstitutional | Fortune

"Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts ruled that based on two words in IEEPA, "regulate" and "importation," Trump has asserted the independent power to impose tariffs on imports from any country, of any product, at any rate, for any amount of time. "Those words cannot bear such weight." Dissenting were Justices Thomas, Alito and Kavanaugh, ScotusBlog reported. Justice Neil Gorsuch, a Trump appointee, concurred in a 46-page opinion."

"The ruling strikes down portions of the tariffs in place on steel and aluminum, as well as those widely arrayed against imports from China, narrowing the scope of Trump's unilateral tariff powers. Writing for the majority, the Court agreed that Congress never clearly authorized the president to rewrite the tariff schedule for most of the economy under IEEPA. The opinion stressed that tariffs function as taxes on U.S. importers and consumers-powers the Constitution assigns to Congress-and invoked the "major questions" doctrine to say that such a sweeping economic move requires unmistakable statutory language."

"Opponents of the tariffs emphasized their economic toll. Duties on imported steel and aluminum raised costs for downstream industries, from autos to construction equipment, while tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars in Chinese goods filtered into higher prices on everything from electronics to furniture. Research from investment banks and branches of the Federal Reserve have repeatedly shown that the financial burden overwhelmingly fell on U.S. companies and consumers, not foreign exporters, provoking furious responses from the Trump W"

The Supreme Court decided 6-3 that the president does not have unilateral authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose broad import tariffs. The Court concluded that the words "regulate" and "importation" in IEEPA do not clearly authorize rewriting the tariff schedule and applied the major questions doctrine to require unmistakable statutory language for such major economic actions. The decision strikes down portions of steel, aluminum and China-focused tariffs and risks refunding more than $175 billion in collections. Justices Thomas, Alito and Kavanaugh dissented while Justice Gorsuch concurred. Analyses show the tariffs raised costs for downstream industries and largely burdened U.S. companies and consumers.

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